Is Lincoln Continental concept a Bentley Flying Spur rip-off?

Snapshot: According to Bentley's chief designer Luc Donckerwolke, the Lincoln Continental Concept launched at the ongoing New York Autoshow is a rip-off from the famous Bentley Continental Spur.

Our automobile industry is so vast yet small, and that's evident from the fact that every now-and-then we see car manufacturers taking design inspirations from some existing cars for their new car. While this happens on a low level from only a grille to headlights, the newly revealed Lincoln Continental concept has taken it to another level.

According to Bentley's chief designer Luc Donckerwolke, the Lincoln Continental Concept launched at the ongoing New York Autoshow is a rip-off from the famous Bentley Continental Spur. Taking a dig at Lincoln's chief designer David Woodhouse, Donckerwolke wrote on his Facebook page "Do you want us to send the product tooling?" before the comment was deleted comment swiftly.

Donckerwolke sarcastically posted on his Facebook page that "I would have called it Flying Spur concept and kept the four round lights," pointing out the similarities between the two cars. While we also feel the design is more or less same, many other professional designers are coming up with the supportive comments like "I thought this was only done in China? Finally a 'Bentley for the masses' though...".

Speaking with Car Design News, Donckerwolke further adds "This behavior is not respectable. Building a copy like this is giving a bad name to the car design world." Reiterating the comments, Bentley's exterior design chief, Sangyup Lee, described the Lincoln as "a joke," adding, "It is very disappointing, especially for an exclusive brand like Lincoln."

Too harsh or not? Only the time would say. But this response from Bentley will surely increase the tension between Ford (who owns Lincoln) and Volkswagen (who owns Bentley).